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Thursday, August 21, 2014

Daniel Lenneér sent me a message yesterday.In essence, he wrote that the animation he used for monsters was 2D cutout animation.

An example of 2D cutout animation from Daniel's own work: Cthulhu arrives on Earth to fight against the Elder Things in his Terror from the Abyss, a comedic adaptation of At the Mountains of Madness.

Then he wrote that 2D cutouts were NOT the way to do these creatures. He said this because he had done test animations of the Bubble Congeries (using pictures from the Internet) and the Polyhedron (using a drawing he made based on the design). While they had a slight charm about them, they weren't horrifying. They were good, but they were NOT menacing in the slightest. They were strange, but not scary at all. The Bubble Congeries didn't do much justice to the design (but it was still strange) and the Polyhedron looked "funny" (I disagree: I liked the look of it, but it still isn't right for a horror movie). He said that if the Arabesque was done in his style, it would look AWFUL.Now I can't show you the actual animations. They're tests. But I can show you some screenshots.

The Bubble Congeries, drifting through outer space/the sky with a rainbow cloud hanging about it like some sort of gas. It does look strange, but it certainly isn't scary and does not do justice to the design.

The Polyhedron, floating in a room which Daniel presumably meant to be a room in the Witch House or whatnot. Daniel says it looks "funny", but I disagree. I really like it, and I like the Bubbles too. But again, it wouldn't work in a horror film.

He used the Bubble Congeries screenshot and put some effects and filters on it. In his opinion, it helps a lot for the mood and feeling of the clip.

Dirty stains are seen below the Bubbles, and there is a black-and-white filter.

Beams (tentacles?) of light emerge from the Bubble Congeries. The black-and-white filter is still present.

I wanted to do my own versions of these screenshots, so I played around in Picasa.

The Bubble Congeries in a bright shade of pinkish-violet. I tinted the picture that color, then added a focal black and white effect. The glowing effect was added afterwards.

I think the Polyhedron turned out much better than my attempt with the Bubble Congeries. I went much darker, and tinted the Polyhedron a dark shade of violet/purple. Then I increased the shadows so only a very subtle violet light and a few vague shapes can be seen in the background.

I went to KingOvRats to see what he thought. He personally agreed with Daniel that they were not right for our project, but preferred the Polyhedron Creature.

I'm going to close off this post with a quote from a message from Daniel. It was some important advice. Grammatical edits by me.

If I were to give any advice; don't put to much focus on the creatures in the project. Lovecraft himself always hide them in fog and smoke and darkness, playing with the fears of the reader. Put focus on the rest, deliver a good story and let the creatures be the topping of the cake.

Monday, August 11, 2014

Along with some major changes to the design of this website, something really cool is going to come from a member of the (possibly tomorrow). It isn't a puppet, of course, but its pretty good and comes close. I can tell you it relates to the Living Hindu Idol.

The major changes to the site will take longer, but it'll be worth it.

Wednesday, August 6, 2014

Going back to an old idea, the fantastic, devoted artist Gregg Stockdale has done some work in the Angled Room.

The original Angled Room.

The original idea for it was that there would be purple/violet, esoteric rays of light forming into orbs.

Expanding on the idea, he changed the shade of the image to a vivid fuchsia-pink, made the back window a maddening arrangement of fuchsia, blue, and green, added a glowing Seal of Nyarlathotep, and defined the lines and angles. The Kamea of Mercury (seen emerging from the window in the original) has been heavily faded and is almost gone, but if you look hard, you can see it.

A LOVELY piece of work has been done here.

Gregg, at my request, put the Mark Foster into a shade of pinkish-violet.

While its very good, it was not QUITE what I was looking for. So I did some experimenting of my own in Picasa. Excuse the poor picture quality.

It has been darkened, so you'll note that some areas are now pitch black where they were not before: in particular, above the heads of Brown Jenkin and Keziah. The text I did not do such a good job with, but there it is.

Gregg and I are going to call it a day. It's all over, at least for now. We thank him for his top-notch work for the film. He did some truly stunning work.

AZABLOG

Welcome to the official website for the horror film based on H.P. Lovecraft's horror story of sprawling higher dimensions and old-school haunted houses. Featuring Lovecraft staples Arkham, Miskatonic University, the Necronomicon, Elder Things, Azathoth, Yog-Sothoth, Nyarlathotep, witchcraft, and science-fiction horror, this is the story's most faithful transition to film yet. And what a transition it is, because look at the amazing team we've put together:

Designs by KingOvRats

"Any colour's fine as long as it is BLACK.": a Polish artist who draws wonderfully creepy depictions of literary and dreamed-up monsters.

Music by "Dreams in the Witch House - A Lovecraftian Rock Opera"

"Witch House Rocks": a two-continent spanning rock opera that will blow your mind.

Stop-Motion Puppets by the Lone Animator

"Amateur fantasy and monster movies made with love!": a fantastic Swedish stop-motion animator who pumps out mini-epics.

2Dimensional Test Animation by Millroad Film

"Wild Visions and Dark Dreams"

Select Props by Cryptocurium

"CRYPTOCURIUM is a New Jersey based maker of 'Handmade Lovecraftian Horrors', custom made artifacts, specimens and Cult Wear inspired by the works of weird fiction author H.P. Lovecraft and the lore of the Cthulhu Mythos." - Jason McKittrick

That not enough? Well, we're just getting started. A group of talented concept artists have done beautiful pictures for us. Go for the label "Concept Artists" to check out the full scope, but here's a quick list. Click on the image to visit them!

Gregg Stockdale

"Born, art, drums, photography, dad, dad again." - Gregg Stockdale

Jason B. Thompson

Andrew Ritchie

"I'm a second shift freelance illustrator and a corporate designer from 7-5. Since everything I draw tends to look a little dead I gravitated to drawing horror. I draw illustrations for comics, books, rock bands and monster models."

Pete von Sholly

"Spreading the Weird Since 1950"

Mark Foster

"A blog about the works and worlds of HP Lovecraft and my feeble attempts to illustrate them." - Mark Foster

Zachary Bos

Writer, editor, and secular community advocate. Let's make meanings that mean something.

...and, in the spirit of Lovecraft, here are some other sites and projects that you may enjoy.